As the usage of computers becomes more widespread and the technology to produce them advances, so to does the amount of communication that is enabled by them. Business runs on communication and access to data and PCs have become an essential part of the communication path. For this and other reasons, it is critically important that PCs are protected from virus attacks and have a method to recover data in the event of Operating System hang. The industry is working on technologies to enable a capability Operating System and maintenance Operating System to co-exist and use a single network. Currently, in a system using a hypervisor to maintain multiple Operating Systems on a single client, there is no way for one Operating System to know if another Operating System has hung.
Hypervisors are a new technology in the industry that enable multiple Operating Systems to co-exist on a single client. Hypervisors allow different operating systems to run on the same hardware concurrently. This has many advantages including resource isolation and ability to concurrently run different operating systems and associated applications. There are two main types of hypervisors. Type 1 hypervisors are hypervisors that run directly on the hardware. This allows good performance in each operating system vs. type 2 hypervisors where the hypervisor runs under an existing operating system. Currently, in a system using a hypervisor to maintain multiple Operating Systems on a single client, there is no way for one Operating System to know if another Operating System has hung.
Thus, there exists a need in the art for a method or system which is able to allow an Operating System in a system utilizing a hypervisor to determine whether another Operating System is operational and not in a hung state without compromising the isolation between the two Operating Systems. Such a method would ensure that communication methods and data retrieval means remain protected.